The first project I created in my first semester at Parsons was my zine. Our Studio Class theme was ‘shift’, and our assignment was to create a zine that focuses on the current shift in our lives. My idea was to photograph the textures of New York City that I found beauty in as an outsider, which locals may overlook. The practice of photographing these textures was meditative; I walked around the city with my eyes peeled for anything interesting in the mundane. I took photographs of trash bags on the street, a crosswalk symbol, fire hydrants, graffiti, and fire escapes. These iconic urban symbols are not typically celebrated for their artistic value, but they spoke to me as a testament to my new life here and the art surrounding me. 

I drew fashion illustrations and had a vision for the layout of this zine. I wanted to print the photos on a thick, high-quality paper, and the fashion illustrations on transparent paper, so that when they lay atop the photographs, the textures of New York filled the garments as if they were a patterned fabric. To realize this project, I taught myself InDesign and learned how to make a book layout, additionally printing and binding the book myself.